Welcome Surprise
by RayWritesThings
Summary: A work conflict has Laurel pretty sure she and Oliver won't be celebrating their first Valentine's back together; luckily, Oliver's thought ahead. / Established Lauriver, Fluff


**Happy Valentine's Day for anyone celebrating or who simply use it as an excuse for content of their ships (like me lol). I hope you enjoy this little bit of fluff.**

**-RayWritesThings**

**Welcome Surprise**

Laurel rolled out of a half-empty bed for work that morning, a glum sort of feeling hanging over her as she made coffee for one and walked past storefronts decorated with red and pink paper hearts and streamers on her way to City Hall.

It had never bothered her much when she was single. Okay, that was a lie, but it had been easier to ignore _because_ she was single. There hadn't been any sort of expectation on her part.

This was her and Ollie's first Valentine's Day back together, and yet she was observing it the same as she would have the last several years: alone.

It wasn't his fault. There was a summit being held at the state capitol for all the mayors this weekend, and, with Thea going as part of his staff, it hadn't made sense to go with them and leave the team significantly sparse for four nights. These sort of minor inconveniences were just part of life, and their relationship had suffered far worse and survived. It didn't worry her. She just wished that, for once, they could have a little break.

She entered the office and headed straight back to her own private one, stopping in the doorway as she caught sight of a package sitting on her desk.

It was a long, thin box wrapped in white, pink and red gift wrapping paper. A satin bow held a note to the packaging, and with caution she stepped forward to slide it out and read. Unannounced deliveries weren't usually a good thing in this city.

But she was relieved to recognize the handwriting as Oliver's. _Saw this in a store and thought of you. Love, Ollie._

Curious now, she tore off the wrapping paper to find a box embossed with the logo of a chocolatier she thought was based somewhere out east. Well, her day was getting better already.

Taking the lid off revealed exactly why Oliver had selected this particular box. There were two largest pieces of the chocolate; one was an oval with a raised relief of the scales of justice on it, and the other was shaped like a gavel. She didn't bother hiding the silly grin this produced since she was alone anyway, and quickly took a picture to send to Sara. Her sister wouldn't get the message until the next time she entered their time period, but Laurel liked leaving her those little updates anyway.

Then she phoned Oliver, hoping he wasn't already in some kind of meeting.

"This is Mayor Queen's phone, how can I help you?" Thea's voice answered.

"Hey, Speedy," Laurel said. "Is Ollie busy right now?"

"A little, sorry. Is something going on?"

"Nothing bad. I just got his present, and I wanted to say thank you."

"Oh, good," Thea replied. "They said they'd overnight it, but we weren't sure if it'd make it in time. Let me tell you, he's been moping about being stuck here this weekend like you wouldn't believe."

"I can imagine." Oliver, of course, would maintain that he still didn't mope, but they both knew better. "Well, I love the chocolate. Kind of don't want to eat it, it's so cute."

"You should definitely eat it, cause they had samples and it's good," her friend and practically sister told her.

"Okay. Well, I'll let you go. Hope the summit's going well, and I love you both."

"We love you, too, Laurel. And we'll see you soon." Thea hung up after.

Maybe it wasn't Oliver himself, but she couldn't help feeling warm and giddy that for the first time in what felt like ages, she had a Valentine. With a little more pep in her step, Laurel got to work on the case files and depositions awaiting her. She was glad still that she'd scheduled herself for the weekend, as it kept her mind occupied instead of bored alone at home. Laurel took a break for lunch and sampled a little piece of the chocolate, finding Thea's assessment to be correct. She put the lid back on it to keep herself from going back for seconds.

Everyone left the office even earlier than was usual for the weekend, whether to go on their dates or to curl up at home with their choice of comfort food. Laurel headed down to the base for some training to warm up for patrols once it got dark.

They had a quiet night overall. A couple of drug deals she broke up, an attempted robbery some of the others picked up on the other side of town before she was needed. She'd learned to take the quiet nights when she could get them.

Though the relative silence was broken on the rooftop she stood on by a familiar voice. "Think we can call it an early night, Pretty Bird."

"Ollie?" She turned around to see him standing there in his suit, and Laurel hurried to throw her arms around him. "How'd you get back to Star?"

"Asked Barry for a lift. He has his own Valentines plans, so he understood. He's going to run me back for the thank you brunch tomorrow morning." He pulled back to look at her. "Didn't Thea tell you we'd see you?"

"Well, she didn't say _tonight._" Laurel wasn't that upset about the surprise, though. "I can't believe you did all this for me, and I didn't plan anything."

"You deserve it and more," he told her, leaning in to kiss her softly. Laurel returned it, her hands going under his hood to cup his face. "Come on, let's get changed and go home."

"For more plans?"

He smirked. "Something like that. I was hoping you'd improvise with me."

Laurel pressed forward, pecking him on the lips again. "I'll bring the chocolate."

His loose hold on her tightened as he licked his lips. "Oh, good idea."

They left the roof via his grapple arrow, Oliver's arm around her waist and hers around his neck. Even if they only had a few hours to spend together, she couldn't think of a better Valentine's Day she'd ever had.


End file.
